Byfield scores first NHL goal, Kings hold off Islanders

ELMONT, N.Y. -- Quinton Byfield scored his first NHL goal for the Los Angeles Kings in a 3-2 win against the New York Islanders at UBS Arena on Thursday.

Andreas Athanasiou had a goal and an assist, and Cal Petersen made 23 saves for the Kings (22-16-6), who were playing the third game of a season-long six-game road trip (2-0-1).
"I think our team does a good job of just staying in the moment, one game at a time," Los Angeles coach Todd McLellan said. "This was the most important game of the trip, until now. The most important game of the trip is the next one (at the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday).
"We've had to win different ways, but the common denominator is checking. We've been able to check our way to wins, and patience a little bit within the game, waiting for opportunities. That'll have to continue on. … When you're on the road for two weeks, it's a long time, but when you put some points in the bank, you can enjoy the trip a little bit at least."

Mathew Barzal scored for the Islanders (15-15-6), who had won four of five. Semyon Varlamov made 27 saves.
New York is 2-13-2 and has been outscored 58-27 against teams currently in position to qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
"L.A. had nothing tonight, they really didn't have much, and I thought we generated a little bit more," Islanders coach Barry Trotz said. "They defended well, they clogged it up. They defended well, and it was hard to generate. They were looking for a low-scoring game, and we generally do. We're not going to trade chances with some of the teams, but we've got to go to the net. We've got to put the puck in play."
Byfield, who was playing in his 10th NHL game, and fourth this season, gave the Kings a 1-0 lead with a wrist shot from the between the face-off circles at 17:05 of the first period.
"I knew I had the one defender beat and wanted to take it kind of wide, almost like freeze the defender. … I got another step and just a quick release," Byfield said. "It found the back of the net. It was a good feeling."
Athanasiou made it 2-0 with six seconds left in the second period when his wrist shot from along the left boards went in off the crossbar after it appeared to catch Varlamov by surprise.
It was Athanasiou's first game since Dec. 14; he missed 16 games because of a lower-body injury.
"That was a big goal," Kings defenseman Drew Doughty said. "That put us up two. [Athanasiou] hasn't played in a long, long time, and to see him score, [he's] so skilled and I think he's scored 30 in the League before (2018-19 with Detroit Red Wings), so we need him in the lineup and we need him to be playing to be at our best. That was huge for us."

Petersen preserved the two-goal lead with a pad save on a one-timer from Jean-Gabriel Pageau at 5:28 of the third, but Barzal ended his shutout with 2:04 remaining with a shot from the left circle.
Adrian Kempe scored an empty-net goal with 36 seconds remaining to make it 3-1.
Casey Cizikas scored 16 seconds later at 19:40 for the 3-2 final.
Adam Pelech hit the crossbar on a 2-on-1 at 5:43 of the first period, and Robin Salo hit the post with a slap shot during an Islanders power play at 16:18 of the second.
"Tonight was a night it didn't go in," New York captain Anders Lee said. "If we put a couple in, [Pelech] goes down and in, the other pipe that we had from Robin goes down and in, we're talking about how great our defensemen scored goals tonight. It's a game of inches. It didn't go our way, but of course we want to generate as much as we can and put pucks in the net."
Doughty played his 1,000th NHL game. He is the first player from the 2008 NHL Draft to reach the milestone.
"[The win] was all that I was worried about today," Doughty said. "I didn't want the 1,000 thing to be a distraction and to not show up and win a hockey game. It couldn't have went any better. That was perfect. Great way to do it."
NOTES:Doughty had an assist in a game-high 24:29 of ice time. … Petersen has allowed two goals or fewer in five of his past six starts. … Los Angeles outshot New York 9-3 in the first. … Islanders forward Kyle Palmieri had two shots and was minus-1 in 13:12 of ice time in his first game since Dec. 16. He missed 10 games with a lower-body injury. … New York placed forward Austin Czarnik (upper body) on injured reserve retroactive to Jan. 22. … Referee Dean Morton was greeted by each team after the game. Morton is retiring after more than 21 years in the NHL.